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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

M. Pax: Top Five Highs and Lows of Publishing

Please welcome M Pax to my blog today. She is a truly amazing person with a lot of drive and talent. A great combo. Take it away, Mary.

This author gig is tough, rife with ups and downs. Here are the highlights of mine:

Top Lows

Rejections. I still submit short stories and still get rejections.

Bad reviews. Most of them are for my perma free The Backworlds. This used to really bother me. Lately, not so much. It sells my sequels. It does its job. And it’s a darn good story.

The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear not selling. That one is like pushing water up a hill.

Mistakes. I’ve hired editors I didn’t like and a cover artist I didn’t get along with. I’ve learned to get recommendations from writers I know and to get them privately. Just because a writer lists an artist or editor doesn’t mean she or he would use that vendor again. I’ve also learned to trust my gut and intuition.

Slow sales days. Husband Unit hates these, too. He has to listen to me whine about how it might all be over. Yeah, I can be a bit melodramatic.

Top Highs

Fan letters. There is nothing better than contact from a reader who says he or she loves my writing. It makes all the lows worthwhile. Every single one.

Dr. Joseph Geary being a fan of the Backworlds series. As the innovator of modern telescope optics, this is an uber geeky victory for me. One that made me squee. It also impressed my astronomy boyfriends.

Being contacted by a publisher this past summer with an offer to include Semper Audacia in an anthology. She paid me, too. Space Jockey is now out, selling very well, and gaining me exposure.

The Backworlds series selling steady and growing. Yay! The fans now help shape the stories. Originally, it was Lepsi’s skull found under the ash sea. I received a lot of letters telling me how much my readers loved Lepsi and Talos. So yeah, Lepsi is not dead. Not anymore.

Doing what I love – writing stories. It’s a real high when each one is finished and is sent out into the world.

M. Pax-- Inspiring the words she writes, she spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with the Husband Unit and two demanding cats. She writes science fiction and fantasy mostly. You can find out more by visiting her at:

For two years Craze’s dear friend, Lepsi, has been missing. The murmurings of a haunted spaceship might be a message and may mean his old pal isn’t dead. The possibility spurs Craze and Captain Talos to travel to uncharted worlds, searching. Out there, in an unfamiliar region of the galaxy beyond the Backworlds, they stumble upon a terrible truth.

Meanwhile, Rainly remains on Pardeep Station as acting planetlord, dealing with the discovery of her lover’s dark and brutal past. Alone and questioning her judgment, her introspection unlocks more than heartache. Latent protocols in her cybernetics activate, forcing her to face a sinister secret of her own.

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe. This is the fourth book in the science fiction series, The Backworlds. A space opera adventure.

Photo: Please note, barring author pics, most of the photos on this blog were taken by me. However, this one of the girl rock climbing is not one of them. I don't think I could climb that high. Mary kindly provided this pic for the post.

You just have to ignore those bad reviews. They happen, and most appear on the first book.Letting the fans guide you is wise. I listened to mine and hopefully gave them what they wanted.YOUR career will never be dead - trust me!! Keep writing.

Hi, Mary, You know my reservations on the freebies, but yup, they do their job in a big way even with the low ratings from some readers. So many people have gone on to buy all my other books because of the freebie. Hetty's day will come. Enjoy the ride.

M, I loved reading this. And was pleasantly surprised that the whereabouts of Lepsi's skull were influenced by reader response! What magic. Seriously, there's no other way to describe what you're doing. In the long run, the lows will be absorbed utterly by a life of the mind well lived. Fantastic.

Mary, I've really enjoyed your recent posts where you open up and show us the workings behind the curtain. These are some of the best, most helpful kinds of posts for writers in my opinion. I can certainly understand the whys behind the highs.

I'm extremely proud to call MP a cohort! She's taught me so much about patience and perspective when it comes to my own writing endeavors. Love that she's seeing the payoff for all of her hard work!

Negative reviews always sting--and they always come, unfortunately. In my humble opinion, when Harry Potter gets 1 star reviews, you know the world is just screwed up and it has nothing to do with you. :)

So we continue to write for the people who enjoy our stories, and let the other folks slide away like water on a duck's back. Most of the time. :)

I know that, Alex. I'd be lying if I said they didn't still irk me, however, as I said, it does its job and sell my series.

My skin gets thicker by the day, Natalie.

It is important to keep your eyes ahead, SA, and to keep the great moments. I file away all my fan mail for bad days.

They sure can, Diane!

Oh dear, I hope not Miranda. If you want the name, I will say in a private email. Which I guess isn't really so private.

It's a definite geek squee for me, Kim. Especially when he preordered book 4. :D

I agree, Pat. We all need to adopt that attitude and to get over the word, 'no'.

I came to that same conclusion, Joy. Painful as it sometimes is, I'm finding my audience and my writing supports itself now. So I'm not doing so bad.

There sure are Meradeth. It is a crazy game, isn't it?

It seemed more optimistic that way, Holly, and we should never give up.

It was multiple letters, Suze. I do pay attention to what fans tell me. That's the most important feedback there is.

Glad you found it helpful, Arlee. We all share this crazy ride. Why not be open?

Oh definitely, EJ. One day I get one that talks about how deep I am. The next day I get slammed for being shallow. lol Whatever. Not everyone is going to get us. It's obvious not every understood my humor either.

Well, his fate wasn't written in stone or dust yet, Crystal, so I was able to change my mind.

Hello Lynda. Hello Mary. Mary, your pros and cons list underlines the point that an author needs never give up, no matter how many times you've felt like it. So many cool things have happened to you which outweigh the bad. It's a hard climb to the top. Keep climbing! I really must see if I have Backworlds in my Kindle. I buy so many books I forget what I have...I'm intrigued to read The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear just to see what the problem may be...if indeed there is a problem.

It's not all a path of roses, I see but I agree with Cherie. The highs outweigh the lows and you are an amazing author, Mary Pax.

Hi Linda! I've come to visit you and to ask you to please drop by the cave and pick up the special invitation there. You're in my guests of honor list and your presence is important. I leave you lots and lots of dragon hugs!

Welcome

Welcome to Lynda R Young's blog. The content includes writing tips and some random meanderings. I'm an Aussie and proud of it. All the photos you see on my blog were taken by me unless otherwise stated.